Chapter 22: Ship of Horrors -frag
Chapter 22: Ship of Horrors The other disguised Freespace operations unit turned out to be a Togar Claw ship. A truly ancient Tech level six warship that had the stylized form of a lion's paw, at least that is how Shaka described it and it was 600 meters long. At first we actually went to battle stations but the Togar Female Captain identified herself on the same special communications equipment we had and was exclusive to NAVINT, as a secret operative like us and we met aboard her ship, officially named Quicha-Too, but it had a secret second Union designation: USS Chimera. From the outside it truly was a crude, primitive surplus cruiser that had several private owners before it became the Quicha-Too, the ship of a Freelancing independent Togar. Inside it was as modern and well equipped as any modern union ship and the Togar gave me a little tour and told me about her mission and challenges while our crews loaded crated Kermac tech, Kermac crew members in stasis and an Olour rock, also in stasis along with boxes of loot and specimen. I learned that she was doing this now for seven years and had made herself a solid reputation as a freelancing jack of all trades. She wasn't really known to be a pirate, but her careful crafted personality was known to do any sort of shady deal. Her main mission was to gather intelligence for NAVINT in Freespace. She and her crew were delighted about Richter Base and having a regular port of call now. She had orders to tow the T Cruiser and bring what we had collected there for further analysis. She also looked forward to a few months R&R. I also was informed that a fleet of Takkian civilian ships were already on their way and the news that their Ancient Chant slates were actually correct and that there was a Clonk had traveled fast and caused a religious revival on Takkian and Takian worlds. The plan was that the Takkian would settle the moon and Little Hell and then 'officially discover' the Clonk and claim the system. Of course I had also informed the Admiral about everything in great detail. It wasn't the most elegant solution according to the Admiral, but the best available. After the Chimera was loaded and we had received some additional supplies, we bid them farewell and Krabbel put in a course that would take us Port Brhama. I had the crew assemble in our Pirate's Den and said to them. "Now after a little and unplanned detour we are back on track with our original mission and we are once again pirates to the world. Any ship that crosses our bow is likely prey and we are going to hunt other pirates and criminals." I held up a print-out and said. "This is a summary of the CID report about the attack on the Danny Huston, the civilian passenger liner that was attacked by pirates while we were at the Golden Bazaar and I want to read it to you. I cleared my throat and began to read out loud. "On February 5th, 5021 the Passenger Clipper Danny Houston on its way from Seven-Skies to Fairfield Planet was attacked and heavily damaged. The Ship master of the Danny signaled full cooperation with the attackers and asked for mercy for his passengers. He assured the attacker that they were a completely unarmed civilian vessel. The Danny was boarded by Pirates and seventy Passengers were taken captive. Every Crew member was killed, the Ship Master was spaced without suit. Four female passengers were brutally raped and afterwards killed! The remaining 48 passengers including children and the Old not worth much on the Slave market were also spaced without suits. Aboard the Danny Huston were Saresii, Humans, Klack, Purple throat Shiss and two Shail. Only one passenger a Stellaris managed to survive in space clinging to the outside of the stripped wreck. The Pirate was identified as Captain Swift of the ship Swift Profit. It was the Captain who did the raping himself as you see can now behind me on the field screen. This footage was taken directly from the interior visual sensors of the Danny Houston. I realize the images are hard to stomach and quite graphic but I wanted you to see them and get the same angry feeling I got in my stomach watching these, the same feeling I got fighting that scum at Outpost 96. I want you to see why we do what we do. Some of us didn't have a proper vacation or might resent the fact that we can't go to port on regular intervals, but those passengers won't come home at all." -""- I was in my ready room. Moments ago I had finished my daily log book entry and now had taken my boots of and had my feet up right on the desk leaning back and I was looking outside my view port into the darkness of space. It was late and the First Night Watch was about to leave the bridge to be relieved by the Officers and crew members of the Middle Watch. I could hear the fourth Bell that signaled the last 30 minutes of First Night Watch that went from 0000 hrs to 0400 hrs. I glanced at the roster read out I always kept open on one of my screens and it would be the first watch with Sobody being the Officer of the Deck and having the Conn. Although he was not an Academy Graduate or had all that much Union Fleet experience, he was conscripted and Admiral McElligott himself wanted him to be an Ensign. He was not inexperienced when it came to make command decisions. He had led an entire civilization for 12,000 years and travelled aboard star ships for at least that long. Besides he turned out to be an asset and reliable and I made the decision to put him on the rotation roster for Bridge watches. We were still 18 days away from our next destination, Brhama Port. Space was vast and to meet another ship outside planetary systems was very rare even on very busy traffic routes. Our sensors had not detected anything for the last two days. We could not use the full range of our active sensors because, active sensors could be detected and no Kartanian would have the sensor range of a modern Union ship. I said. "Ship give me a Bridge Visual." Normally I would not spy on my officers and crew, but I wanted to see how Sobody came on and how he handled himself. A new field screen established itself before me and Ship said."I am curious too, as how he will do." To my ship AI I said. "I still find it amazing to hear a Computronic use words like curious and have an intuition knowing why I wanted to watch. I wonder if we should not have more sentient Computronics." Ship responded."As much as I am thankful to you, don't think it would be a very good idea. If personalities can choose to be good and then they also have the choice to do bad, and what damage could a Ship AI do if it be malicious." I agreed and said."Thinking it over it wouldn't be fair to the AI's anyway as they had no choice but become Ship AI's and serve. Not much of a choice." While I watched the First Watch go through the final motions of their shift. Ship said. "I would have made that decision even if I had other choices. I am very content to be your AI." "I still think we need to find a way to treat you more fairly. You are on duty all the time, no free time, no leisure time and all that." "I am not human, Captain. I am sentient but not a biological being. I perceive things differently. I am made to function around the clock. I don't require sleep and I can think and act on many levels simultaneous. I can dedicate a section of mine to spend time on my hobbies, when there is not much going on.” Ship paused and then the AI said. ”I speak and understand all languages of the Union and many more and yet I can't find the appropriate words to express how you make me feel when you say something like that." “Don't get all mushy on me but I think we should explore if we can't use Avatar technology or maybe a robot body of sorts. I know Mothermachine had something like that to attend the festivities of Union Week on Pluribus.” "You would allow that?" "I am recommending it." "You are the best captain an AI can have." I smiled at that and said something similar in return and then watched the Golden and his nine duty officers come on the bridge. I actually laughed as I saw the little Holdian walking briskly behind the Golden. Ship said. "Those two are almost inseparable, as you can see the Holdian specialist is the Duty Engineer of that watch." The transfer went smoothly and I noticed that the Golden did everything by the book. Even more so than most, and his transfer could have been recorded for academy instructions. He sat down on the Command chair and was calling in the standard reports of all departments. My supervision was not needed and since I had changed my own schedule to Morning watch in order to be on the bridge when we reached Brhama port, it would have been a wise decision to go to bed. I was just about to turn off the field screen when Ship said. "OPS just reported a contact on the scanner horizon correction, there are two contacts now, and weapon energies are exchanged." My ready room was right behind the bridge and it took me only a few moments to reach it. Just as I entered Sobody called me over Intra Ship. As always two marines guarded the bridge access door and announced me. "Captain on the bridge." Sobody vacated the seat and I said to him while I sat down."Sorry to cut your first watch short, but I think you did fine and you are on the permanent watch roster now." He bowed slightly and said. "Two contacts, Captain and right in our path. Looks like pirate action I put myself on ship-wide and said. "Ship, sound Battle stations, senior officers to the bridge." The light on the bridge changed from bright to red and it took seconds for my team to reach their stations. Narth of course was first as he simply appeared and took his seat behind the OPS station and seconds later he gave me the first analysis. "Contact one emits energies consistent with a Bolgar Class Armed trader and Contact two energy signature is Kartanian and on file. It belongs to a know Pirate ship called the Mighty Nine. The identity of Pirates themselves are not listed but the ship and associated energy signature are on the Union Wanted list for acts of piracy. Ship reported that all stations have signaled stations and that meant that every being aboard the ship had reached their battle station, fully . I acknowledged and said. "Shaka get us within one light minute. Mao raise shields and arm weapons." On most Union ships there would be little to do for the Science officer, as all scanner and sensor resources were used by tactical and OPS, but not on the Tigershark. Narth allocated almost all sensors to her station and left only targeting and threat sensors with Tactical. What made our system somewhat different was Shea's intricate knowledge of the sensors and their capabilities, her incredible intellect paired with human emotion and intuition to corelate the scanner results with established knowledge. She worked in perfect synergy with SHIP and the other departments. Right now she sent Hans the wide spectrum images of the ships and he used them to check with Union Intel and law enforcement data banks. SHIP used the energy out put and energy signatues and calculated the energy technical capabilities of these potential opponents and she used a fine raster spectronomy to analyze shields and armor of the other ships and Mao used this data to create a targeting logarythm that would allow him to disable, disarm or destroy depending on my orders. It all happened in mere heart beats and she said. “Captain the Bolgar Class is registered to a small Union Company that does trading business with several Freespace civilizations. According to their GalNet mostly buying and selling declassified civilian goods. The company is suspected to also deal with the Togar, according to an Intel report. Which is not against the law as long as they don't sell Mil Tech." Mao reported. "The Mighty Nine is well armed with Kartanian Yukti Ship to ship missiles and four Faster Than Light Directed Energy cannons, but nothing bigger than 1 Mega joule per second. The Bolgar has three FTL DE turrets but only Class VIII. Both ships have standard shields. The Bolgar's aft shields are about to collapse.” Elfi followed right after Mao saying. "Captain we are being hailed on Tachyon Radio, by the Mighty Nine." Har Hi pulled his folded helmet out of his collar and it became rigid as soon as it was completely out and it covered his face to the chin with a yellow tinted face plate obscuring his identity and handed me my mask."I assume we going to talk first right?" I laced the mask tight and gave him a scolding look. "We always talk first. Elfi open the channel as soon as Narth verifies the Bridge image matches our ships disguise." She responded. "You're on Captain. Bridge image confirmed." A shaggy looking creature appeared on our screen. It had an elongated somehow bean shaped head with four pointed ears and a drop shaped nose that extended over the most of the upper half of the head. It had four eyes and a small rigid mouth. The head and much of the exposed upper torso was covered in finger long unkempt looking, orange colored fur. Narth informed me telepathically. "This is a Volting and they are members of the Galactic Council, I can sense him pretty easily and he is as wanted there as he is wanted by the Union." He squealed in a hoarse voice. "Who do you think you are' interrupting my business?" I said to him. "My business is interrupting yours. So lower your shields and deactivate your weapons and we will make it fast and quick. We leave with your valuables and you leave with your life. I assure you, you won't like the alternative." Even though it was the first time I saw a Volting, I could tell by his reaction he did not expect me saying that. "Don't mess with me, Female. I am of the Sinister Alliance and have many friends." He couldn't know that this was the wrong thing to say to me , I remembered the attack on the Outpost as if it was yesterday and of course the little Holdian commander and I responded. "Well your friends aren't here, but I am.” Elfi signaled me that the other ship was hailing us now as well and I had her put them on simultaneous. The screen split and a human captain became visible. He wore a corporate uniform in bright reds and blues and I found it a tad too colorful. He had dark hair and bushy eye brows that almost united above his wide nose. "I am willing to offer you 25,000 Polo coins if you help me escape this gangster who dared to fire upon us. I am a peaceful trader and have little of value aboard." Narth mental connection transferred an emotion I had never thought possible with him. My friend felt disgust and he send me his thoughts.”Eric, he has the most disgusting and horrible freight. What I am sensing can not be described, I wondered what Narth had seen and said to the human. "I make you the same offer as I made to your Volting playmate: Surrender, lower your shields and prepare to be boarded and you might walk away from this." To Mao I said. "Open gun ports and incapacitate them, Shaka show them what a real Helmsman can do." I moved my seat into Battle mode and our disguised ship shot like a Rock shark between a group Three Finners. Our Nul Froth Casters that were part of our disguise were quite functional and those Nul graviton pulse weapons were second only to the latest Terran weapons and enormous powerful and especially damaging to shields. It was a thrill ride I could equate to nothing else. Shaka was more than just good. It was as if he could predict when the other ships were firing and corrected the course with the speed of thought and evaded both ships barrage with apparent ease, while he never exceeded speeds that a Kartanian could not obtain. I was fairly certain however that no Kartanian ship had such precise helm control systems reacting in Nano-second delay to Shaka's control commands. The stars danced around me in a wild erratic manner, whenever Shaka changed course. Mao who of course trained with Shaka knew his friends style adapted his gunnery to the flight pattern and none of his shots missed. His targeting sequence was on the spot and he actually used manual intuitive fire control. Our ship shuddered ever so slightly as all our turrets pointed to one side and gave the Mighty Nine a broadside. I heard Mao say. "Shaka, I am giving the Bolgar the same medicine, prepare to compensate for weapon recoil." Shaka responded."I am using that drift into Fire lee on purpose, no sense of wasting perfectly good kinetic energy." I had to laugh. My friends had fun, enjoyed themselves doing what they did best. Har Hi said. "Captain both ships rendered inoperable and their shields are down." It took a second to get my seat out of Battle view and then I said. "Mao, pound them with Tech Stop and Paralysator rays. Har Hi and Hans you take the Mighty Nine. TheOther you are with me, we going to visit the Bolgar. Hans I need 25 Marines and two Fenris stat." Har-Hi shook his head as we both rushed to the IST. "There is no sense stopping you, or is there?" Everything in me urged me to rush on and board that ship but I made Har Hi my XO and he had a point. I stopped and sighed."You are right. I will remain aboard." He laughed already at the door. "Just kidding Captain, I wanted to be at the door first. Stopping you to get into the thick of the fray would be cruel." I actually cursed him and said." Shea you got the Conn." Running behind him I yelled."What a fine friend I got!" I almost caught up with him at the Battle dresser at the deployment deck as he said. "You don't know how much I respect you for actually heeding my objection, Captain." “You are the XO after all.” He launched himself into space, his boot thrusters glowing bright white before he even made it past the force field curtain and he said via Command Channel. "Whoever calls Object secure first wins." "What's the wager?" "If I win we keep the Pool temperature at a cozy 38 and if you win, I prance around in High Heel boots for an entire hour." "I thought you hate swimming?" "I am getting used to it as it seems you completely lost your fear of space." "I didn't lose it, I simply don't find the time lately to feel it." “All you need is a fight at the other side and you'd cross hell to get there. I am slowly getting used to water and swimming, but I tell you, jumping in a pool that is kept at only 4 degrees is anything but fun. Only afterwards I was told that the temperature is at these freezing temperatures because my Captain took a swim an hour before." I could see the freighter now with my own eyes as the strong lights of our suits revealed details of tits hull, there weren't enough photons out here to reflect and see the ship on its own. "You better get an appointment with Cateria then, because walking in these Heels isn't as easy as it looks and I am almost there.” "You forget I have Hans with me and I am already halfway there!" Once again I flew through deep space towards a hostile ship, accompanied by Elite Marines and two Fenris robots and Har-Hi was right, I was no longer as afraid of space as I was before Har-Hi and I had stopped our banter as we had to concentrated on the job at hand. Right next to me was TheOther who looked truly frightening in his modified Gilgamesh suit. Without my special Sensor optics he would have been ompletly invisible as the suits adaptive camouflage had taken on the darkness of space itself. TheOther was the first reaching the Bolgar ship. Bolgar was not a species but an old Union Company that manufactured civilian space craft for about two hundred years but went out of business for some reason. Still there were many Bolgar ships out there and they had a reputation for being solid and reliable. The ship was about 350 meters long and had the simple shape of a dull cone with a base radius of 80 meters. Six ISAH pods attached to its aft. The Gilgamesh suit augmented the titanic strength of the Y'All to an almost unimaginable level. It became evident as he didn't use any tools to rip the strong airlock door out of its socket. My suit Computronic reported Communication activity from within the Bolgar and reported that there were still functional energy sources and energy shields within the ship. Apparently our Tech Stop rays didn't do the trick. Tech Stop was very effective against unshielded electronic equipment, but completely ineffective against shields. It was not completely unexpected as many ships, especially of Union origin had internal shields to protect key components and areas. This of course would also mean the Paralysator rays did not incapacitate everyone aboard. I tuned in to the communication channel of the Civilian Union trader and heard screams of panic. Someone in that ship screamed into his audio sensor."Y'All! We are attacked by the Y'All!" I went in right after TheOther , arm cannons ready and with two Marines at my flank while the rest breached the ship in small teams on different spots as per my orders. These two Elite Marines were like living shadows. There was nothing to fight however , we simply followed the path of destruction our Y'All friend had left behind, bulk heads crumbled and torn like paper, a man in some sort of battle armor cut in half. TheOther was a whirlwind of doom and he marched unstoppable shrugging of a few sporadic blaster beams. He held a TKU mini cannon, normally used as direct fire artillery piece mounted on landing tanks or battle walkers with his lower arms, while he held a brand new QGP Rifle in the upper left and a weird and truly massive power sword of weird shape in his upper right fist and with it he cut down a few of the ships crew who dared to resist. Force field curtains collapsed as he simply marched into them, the aggressive ParaDim shields of his suit interrupting their field cohesion and closed air locks he cut , ripped and stomped into twisted metal holes. I reached the ships bridge without firing a single shot, one of the marines at my side turned out to be Pure and while he very rarely talked he was compelled to express his amazement."Beasts of Tarnak, can you imagine an army of these?" The other marine, a Perthanian giant also with two arm pairs was less impressed. "I seen Perthanian platoons in action, there isn't all that much difference I would imagine and yet an entire army of us was defeated in the Battle of Gabthrt in 4319 by a Union Marines Battalion led by Admiral Stahl." I elbowed him in the side as I stepped on the ship's bridge."There isn't much that impresses you Perthanians, now isn't there Lt. Hrrtew?" "Oh there is, Captain there is. You should see what happens if our Security Chief really lets loose." TheOther said. “The Captain fought two of us in hand to hand combat and won.” The Pertharian almost dropped his gun. “Captain, consider me impressed.” “It didn't exactly win and..now let's get on with the business at hand.” While I wondered what it would look like if Hans fought not holding back? I looked around the bridge of the Bolgar. It was a standard Union layout like it was done half a century ago, with all the duty stations behind a bridge dividing chest high barrier and only the helmsman having his station before that barrier and behind armored viewports. It was all well maintained from the looks of it, there was even a civilian GalNet Terminal. The bridge crew was hiding behind the barrier. I counted six humans and two Togar. Narth popped out of thin air and right next to me, of course in his Alvor's Cove dust mantle disguise and held out his hand. The Captain of the ship started floating. Narth explained his sudden appearance to me. "He was about to destroy his cargo, I could not let this happen, before you all seen what he is shipping to Togar markets. It is the first time I feel disgust so strong I have the impulse to kill.” I was quite surprised by his statement but a stomach turning suspicion spread from the bottom of my gut as I knew what the Togar liked to buy. Narth nodded. "Yes Captain, your notion is quite correct." Har-Hi's voice came on using the Command channel and said."Pirate ship secure, we won!" I said to him. “Acknowledged, strip the valuables, secure anyone alive in Stasis boxes and have Shea look into their Files.” The Ship's master came floating towards me and he looked back between Narth and TheOther obviously not sure who he had to fear more. He said to me. "Are you Black Velvet, the Pirate?" His helmet peeled away from his face like the skin of a fruit. The tough material of his armor ripped like tissue paper and Narth answered for me."You are in the presence of Captain Black Velvet and it is not I you need to fear and not the Y'All, but her." I said."What is your cargo?" His eyes shifted and his mouth became a thin line."Nothing you pirates would be interested in." One of my marines came onto the bridge; even through the face plate of his helmet I saw his pale white face and an expression of shock. "Captain, the vessel is secure, but you better not go inside the vessel's main cargo hold, it is the most horrible thing I ever seen." What was the freight consistent off that shocked an elite Marine and a Narth?" I said to TheOther."Hold him and make sure they don't touch anything. Have Cirruit come over and disable any self destruct mechanisms." To the Marine I said." Show me!" We used the ships functioning Ship elevator and it took us down to the cargo hold level of this armed freighter and as we approached the Cargo bay access doors. Two more marines came out and both looked as pale and disgusted as the one with me. Moments later I stepped through the door and stopped in my tracks. The Cargo hold was laid out like a freezer meat locker. There were rows of long steel racks from the floor to the ceiling and on steel hooks hanging packed in transparent plastic, human bodies. Headless, arms and legs tight to the body, like hams in a butcher shop. Large shipping crates were stacked three rows high with labels like; 250 human heads, fresh frozen, 200 human legs fresh frozen. An open crate labeled “Human hearts individually packed” made me a gag. Even a rough estimate made me think there had to be at least 5000 of these frozen bodies! I had a hard time keeping it down. The Marine said. "There are four cargo holds like that, Ma'am! And there is one up front with live human prisoners kept in nightmare conditions. I had to see it for my own eyes. He was right, the conditions on the cargo hold with the life slaves was an impression of horror, I was certain would follow me for the rest of my life. They where stacked on metal shelves, wrapped tightly in plastic up to the head with hoses attached to body orifices to siphon body waste and to feed them garish looking slurry. The groaning and muffled crying of at least 3000 victims was perhaps even more disturbing than the stench. I actually ran, I ran back to the bridge of the ship and grabbed the Ship's master by the throat. I tried to find words that could adequately express my feelings to him, I failed and said. "You will pay for this, like no one has ever paid!" He tried to shrug and said. "What is it to you? You are a Pirate and these are all Union Humans. It's just business, very good business too. Let me go and I split the profit with you.” I didn't even recognize my own voice as I asked. "Is this your companies real business. Are there more ships like this?" His eyes glared at me. "The Togar are waiting for this ship. It is unwise to make the Togar and my company your enemies, Pirate. I have a GalNet terminal and I called for help and described you and your ship. Help is on its way, so you better make a deal with me." I still held him and said to Narth using our mental connection."Tell Shea, and Three-Four to come over here and have them copy every bit of information of this ship Computronics. Tell Krabbel he has the Conn and you man your sensors and make sure we know when something or someone approaches." Narth responded with."Aye Captain" and disappeared. To the Ship Master I said. "I really hope you called them , because I send them all straight to Hel." My mind was still seeing the images I had seen in his freight bays and the knowledge that I could not punish him accordingly filled me with a cold, different rage than I had ever felt before. It was not the sudden anger I often cursed and could quench with plunging myself head over heels into the fray. It was the realization that death was not enough, that the only thing that would satisfy me was to torture him, to make him suffer a long time and I said to him. "I am going to sell your load of human flesh to the Togar myself. I am going to fill them with disease and when your filthy cat friends will eat, spread it and die." One of is bridge crew officers was a Togar and like the rest of the survivors restrained with memory tape and held like a weightless toy in TheOther's fist hissed with fear.yelled in wide eyed panic “You can't do that that would be genocide!” "Yes Cat you are right. No mercy, no remorse I will descent upon your kind and make you pay! You Togar shall perish to the last as for my wraith knows no limit!" The Ship master, I was still holding struggled and screamed. “Please take away those black flames. I am sorry! I am so sorry, I had no idea hell exists, please have mercy!” As if there was a vacuum inside his body. His eyes were sucked inside his skull and his cheeks pulled in around his teeth and jaws. He screamed, and then he gargled with a dying voice. "The flames, the dark flames, please don't…" His last words died on his bloodless lips and he looked like a thousand year old freeze dried mummy hanging from my fist. I felt like I had been a bystander and someone else had taken my place. It was like waking from a trance. TheOther who was holding the Togar said. "Captain are you alright?“ I dropped the corpse and said."You better check the suits of these other officers. This one had some sort of suicide device on him.” “He held the Togar up and before me and the Cat struggled trying to get away from me even while bound and held by a Y'All and TheOther said."You sure impressed him as you can see!" I shrugged and said. "I wish we could really do that, spoil their food but I doubt the Admiral will let us." -""— I stood in one of our empty freight bays and watched my crew pile the spoils of our raid on the floor, while Sobody held a PDD in clip board mode and took meticuosly stock. There was a deep smile of satisfaction on his face and I said to him. “You have a Bazaar full of the the rarest wares in the galaxy and you look like a Viking Boy in a harpoon shop tallying this plunder.” Captain this is so much more fun. It's like opening a present and you don't know what's inside.” He pointed at the pile and said. “ Seven rolls of Archa silk, Nine barrels of Bandurian Fragnance Oil, an entire case of Saresii Tea porcelain , quite valuable antiques. Six boxes of highly illegal Drugs including at least a pound of Califerm and there is more of course.” I was about to ask where the Holdian was when I noticed an open trunk and a fast moving tail. “Mr. Warner , anything interesting in that trunk?” He appeared holding a small fancy blue bottle in his left paw and peach colored veil in the other. “Perfume and female Under things but no jewelry so far.” Sobody said. “Looks like a Jaspan Perfume, the perfume might be stale but if the bottle is genuine its at least 2000 years old and quite a collectible.” I shook my head. “Is there a any merchandise you are not able to identify?” He looked at me and then smiled. “Probably not captain, I am doing this for a long time.” “Well carry on then.” Sobody said ."Captain, can I make a suggestion?" I nodded. "Of course." It would really help our reputation as Pirates if our deeds became known. I mean we should tow the pirate ship to Brhama Port and sell it. The Mighty Nine is a well known ship and us bringing it in would be a bold statement, not to mention make a nice profit. Would be a shame to let it drift or blow it up, you know." Elfi called me over Intercom and said. "Captain I got the Admiral as you requested." "Pipe it down here, Elfi." A field screen established itself before me and showed both Cherubim and the Admiral, sharing half of the screen each. Even though Elfi had sent them a detailed report and visuals, I gave them a short oral report. Cherubim said after I was done. "We think we know where Klotzky & Harris Freight and Export gets these humans. They run advertisement campaigns on GalNet offer good paying easy jobs to Non citizens, GalDrifts, criminals and other similar groups and promise them a new life with good conditions on a Corporate Colony with paradise like conditions that sound too good to be true. It appears it is a trap to lure the fringe groups of our society.We have alerted Federal Police and they going to execute a search warrant in short time." The Admiral clenched his fist. "Even though I think your plan has merits, I can't condone it. We can't poison the Togar. As much as their practices disgust us. Not a single Togar ship has ever attacked a Union ship or a Union target, as they know what will happen if they do. As far as e know the humans they consume have been sold to them by others and neither our morals nor our laws apply in their society. If we ever catch them on our side of the fence and doing anything of that sort then we can act.” Cherubim said. “But this is why you and the other Chimera units are out there, working in secret to eliminate as many of the slavers, pirates and traders as possible. Again McElligott spoke and said. “ The Togar, so I have learned from the small community of these Cats that live as Union citizens, actually prefer pork and your friend Axel Enroe does his part to diminish their demand on human flesh by delivering pork to the Togar. Of course he also makes a nice profit out of it I am sure.” Cherubim said. “I am sure there comes the day when the Freespace Treaty is no longer valid and we can freely send Fleets to patrol and then things will change.” I had to agree and I did remember Captain Lethra, the female Togar and Captain of the American Spirit and Axel Enroe's private yacht. It was not so long ago and yet it felt as if it happened a lifetime ago. The Admiral said."I have been in contact with your rich friend to your friend and since Galveston shipyards isn't that far away he will send three of his ships. One of them will tow the horror ship back into Union space and we take it from there. As soon as you see the Enroe units on your scanners I want you to leave that area, as you are a pirate even in their eyes of course. They do have strict orders not to engage anything and simply tow that ship back. However they are corporate private units and are not under Fleet command. Corporate Captains don't like Pirates at all and your reputation is growing.” I told him about Sobody's suggestion and he said."It is a good idea and I think he is right. It would make your reputation more solid than the rumors we have spread. Go ahead tow that ship to Brhama Port and sell it, put the captured Pirates in stasis boxes aboard the Bolgar ship, so we can deal with them as well." I acknowledged his orders and he smiled at me saying. "Tell your crew you already made a difference, capturing the Mighty Nine and that K&H Corp ship and that we are quite proud of you all. How is that Golden passenger of yours working out?" “He became very fast a valuable and reliable member of my crew and I have changed my mind about him completely and would not want to miss him." "Good to hear, carry on and good luck." -""- The Enroe ships had arrived and we were on our way seeing them on the horizon of our sensors. We also noticed a group of four ships speeding towards the same location. Shea identified them as ships registered to the K&H Corporation. Most likely the help called and mentioned by the dead Ship master. I was tempted to turn around and shoot them all to pieces, but Har-Hi did his job well, keeping me in line and Hans was certain that the K&H ships didn't want to mess with the Enroe ships. I hoped Dawn herself would execute everyone involved in that vile business and make sure they dangled a while before they died. This time I actually wished I could be there as her assistant and would volunteer to push the switch. I didn't like GalDrifts but I knew from first experience, not all of them had chosen this lifestyle. Like my little Exa who was born into it and had no choice. I was sure there were many more like her, who somehow fell through the social net of our society and to prey upon those with false promises, to lure them into a trap to sell them as meat was worse than slavery. It was almost scary how much my view of the world had changed since I left Nilfeheim. Was I really the same person? On the outside I had changes so much that I was certain no one on Nilfeheim would recognize me, perhaps with the exception of Elena, who was among the first I shared my secret with. Looking down on my own chest that now sported a set of female breasts, tightly arranged under thin black leather, I remembered the conversation I had about these with my step sister in the yard of our burg while we crossed blades. I realized it was the first time in my life; I had a feeling of homesickness. I wondered if it was time for breakfast at the burg. I could almost smell the fresh bread Midril would bake and I could hear the sharp claws of the Nubhir Wolfs clacking over the stone floor in the High Hall for the best places under the big table. In all this time I had left it was still winter on Nilfeheim and Shortsummer was still over two years away. The coldest period however was over and our blue, cold planet was now on its path closer to Solken our sun. Yet I knew at the bottom of my heart, that Nilfeheim was no longer my home. I could visit I was certain but I would never fit in again and never be more than a guest on my own home world. Narth entered my thoughts, not intrusive but like a welcome diversion. Even though the Narth society was alien to me, his mind was not. It had become a part of me , just as my Eric persona and Freya the female that shared my mind. In many ways the female side of me, the one I called Freya was more alien to me than Narth and especially now that I lived and was perceives as a woman. Her desires and motivations seemed that of a different person altogether. It was as if I shared my very being with her. Narth voice inside me said. "Yes it seems as if you have shared Hugavh with a female of your race. You are the same and yet different when you are her. Yet your core, is still Eric. You are more complicated than a the Chaos inside a Back Hole. Luckily you will eventually become Narth and then . As the Narth Supreme said you are Narth but I think you will be the first among us who has an individual name." "One thing is certain my friend, all this is beyond the comprehension of a Neo Viking and while I have this strange notion that there is yet another someone inside me. Not you, not Freya but someone else. When I do the meditation exercises you have taught me, I can almost feel something else, something that is asleep but it is there." Har-Hi interrupted our silent conversation and said. "Captain you should go to bed, you are falling asleep on the Conn. Not that this is a bad thing, but your shift is long over and we are still more than 17 days out of Brhama and we can't get any faster as we are towing the Mighty Nine." I straightened myself in the seat and said. "It is a good idea Har-Hi and I will heed your advice, but first I am going to the Den, have a bite to eat and have a nice cold swim." He grinned and said. "I won; there won't be any cold water in the Pool for a whole week!" I got up stretched myself and said. "Teaches me to wager with a Dai." Since ship time was equal to Standard Union, the ship was still on night mode. Most beings had a wake and sleep cycle. So a steady day night cycle was part of the ship routine as I was deemed better and healthier for the crews. During day cycle the corridors were lit with light that simulated the same spectrum of a GIII star, but during the night cycle, the lights had a softer yellow glow and only every third light element was on. This was the reason I didn't expect many to be in our Den, but I found Sobody, the Holdian, the Shaill and two marines sitting around a smaller green table put upon the side and playing a game that involved colorful round coins stacked before them and little sheets of paper they held like a fan before their faces. Well in the case of the Holdian it covered much of his upper torso and he had to hold that paper fan with both his little hands, while one of the Marines was a Pethanian and in his hand they looked tiny. The Shaill used the mechanical hands of his hover sled as it had no natural hands at all. The human marine was jumping up and said. "Captain on deck." I said. "Not here Marine, as you were." He sat back down. I looked towards the ceiling as I always did when I addressed the Computronic and said. "Ship, can you let the galley know I would like to eat something?" "Yes Captain. I take care of it myself." While the Tigershark had Serv-Matics that could be found in almost every room of the ship, there weren't any in the Hangar Bays of course. Like the day and night cycle and for similar reasons, all fleet ships also had a real Galley where food was prepared the traditional way. I had met our Chief Steward briefly as he boarded the ship on Richter base and the ships galley was under the jurisdiction of the Steward department. I also knew we had a Chief Cook, but I had not met him or her so far. I looked over Sobody's shoulder and asked. "What kind of game are you playing?" He cursed with a deep smile of satisfaction on his face and said. "Polonium may kill whoever invented this game. It is a Terran card game called Poker and that smart Marine Corporal here, is showing us how it is played now for the last nine days. If we would play for real, he would be the richest Son of a gun in the Union Marine corps. Yesterday he even won against Ship and Shea!" I made a step back in disbelieve. "How could anyone win against those two in any kind of game?" The Marine now also grinned and said. "Because part of the game is how well you can bluff. Now I can't ever win against Lt. Schwartz or Ship again as they now knows how it is done, but I did manage to do so once, Captain." "Maybe I need to try it myself, right after I ate." Just as I said it a Crew member I had not seen before walked in followed by a stout looking Elly wearing a white jacket and salt and pepper patterned pants. He was carrying a covered plate. The crewmember coming in looked like a female X101, with the same chrome colored skin and I wondered why I had not noticed her before. Unlike Circuit, she had shoulder long hair looking very much like the silvery tinsel we used on Nilfeheim to decorate the Yule log. She wore Navy black and had the Ensign rank bar on her collar. She greeted me and I immediately recognized the voice, it was SHIP. "What do you think, Captain?" I smiled at her and said."Very nice and I am glad you followed up on that. Is it an Avatar or a robot?" "It will be both, Captain. Cirruit managed to get a direct link to Mothermachine. She approved and is making me a real body that can directly link to my mind. Until we can pick it up however it is an Avatar representation of Mothermachine's design. Cirruit recommended that approach so my physical representation is above any legal challenges. With Mothermachine involved no one will be able to challenge your decision to make me a person." "Good thinking and I do like the hair. It looks very nice." She said."It is part of the newest X101 series improvement, that is just been born." I then pointed at the covered dish, held by the Elly."Is that my dinner?" "Yes Ma'am. I made it myself and thought I take the opportunity to meet you in person. I am Petty Officer First Class Nanjo Eeeryt, and I am your Chief Cook. I noticed your preference for Fish dishes and allowed myself to prepare you Terran French Fish soup called Bouillabaisse and Norwegian Lutefisk with mashed potatoes, mashed peas and bacon." Remembering the Gelatinous Pulse Stink Maggots and the state dinner on Archilerb, I was not too keen to see what he fabricated. I changed my mind after first whiff of the soup and after trying a spoon, I was certain this was a close second to Midril's Fin stew. He stood there watching me eat and I noticed the poker game had stopped and everyone was watching me and it was as silent as in the Cave of the forgotten Clans so I said."This is food fit for the Aseir! I must apologize for thinking skeptical. Mr. Eeeryt this is the best I ate since I left Nilfeheim. I hope you made enough for seconds and why is it I am eating alone?" I could not tell how or where they came from but the table was full in no time and everyone was trying the Fish soup. The Cook said to me. "I know our reputation, Captain. Believe me I do. I was the butt of every joke there is during boot camp and specializing training, but I learned cooking in a town of Earth called Marseille. I have worked as a Chef at the Waldorf Astoria in New York and was the Head Chef on the Silver Swan, a five star luxury liner before I decided to serve our Union." I had stuffed myself like a starving Tyranno during the last Shortsummer month and hoped that my leather suit would hold. I leaned back smoked one of Shaka's cigarettes as he had joined us as well, before me a cup of Navy blend coffee and a glass of golden Whiskey that came out of a case, McElligott himself had sent. The horror images of the last days slowly faded into the background of memories. To the Golden I said."Sobody what can you tell me about Brhama port?" He had just finished his third plate and pushed the plate away, dabbed his small mouth with a napkin and said."The area is known to most as the Thalim Nebula, the Union calls it the Prometheus Five Star Nebula, while no one knows why all five suns went supernova approximately at the same time, and it created a nebula. Not nearly as thick as the Igras Nebula soup and not as full of radiation as the Ballard Nebula, those Mini Terrans call their home, but full of Roids, I mean Asteroids and planetoids, micro matter and solar gases. One side is in Union space and the other extends into Freespace. Brhama Port is much like my own Bazaar a hollowed Asteroid, but much smaller." Ship called up a map of the area and then a visual of Brhama Port, while the holographic image was slowly turning in the middle of our table Sobody continued, "The Asteroid is about nine kilometers in diameter and as you can see, looks more like a Terran potato than anything else. The area has always been a particular nasty space in terms of outlaws and pirates, but Brhama and the area around it is controlled by the Bassett Roid Mining Association. The Bassetts are a big family of nineteen brothers and seven sisters with all their extended families. They are as tight as it gets and you only get in by marrying or being adopted. The other miners associated to that area lease their claims from the Bassett family by sharing parts of their profits. The Port is also a well known Pirate hang out and they can do as they please as long as they leave the miners alone. Attacking a miner is a no-no and stirs the Bassetts like a nest of Thikar-stingers. They do most of their business with the Kartanian and the Togar. The miners on Union Side are their sworn enemies and there are constant battles, as the Union border is less than well defined in this area." Shea who had joined us just a few moments ago asked."The Bassetts are humans or a species?" Sobody shrugged. "I am not sure, I haven't seen one personally, but they maintain a sales stall on my Asteroid and I was told they are humanoid. Rumors I can not substantiate say they are a mix of Human and Kermac. Disliked on both sides and that is why they settled there, but then this family is in business for almost 1000 years and they keep their family secrets well." Har-Hi sighed. "I know this area actually, well the galactic north part of it. It was there where my father and the other Clans that decided to join the Union crossed into Union space, with Cam Elf-Na and 6500 Dai Clans in hot pursuit. It was a dark day for the Dai indeed." Sobody made a sad face and nodded. "I know, noble Har-Hi. There are many scavengers still scouring the area for Dai artifacts and scrap. I have seen many thousands of tons go through my Bazaar alone." Shea asked. "Why haven't the Dai attacked this port?" It was Har-Hi who answered. "We don't mine, but we need raw materials. Attacking them will supply you once, buying minerals and metals will allow you to get a steady and reliable source. I am sure these Brothers have several Clans among their steady customers." Shea made Har-Hi tell the entire events out of his perspective and told us that this is when he saw the Devi for the first time. He had forgotten his cigar that was burning in an ashtray before him and he finished saying. "Only three weeks after that I was on my way to the Academy." Narth said. "You could have almost met each other back then, Eric and you that is." Har-Hi raised one of his sharply angled eyebrows and said. "I thought you weren't in the Navy back then and still on Nilfeheim. Were you already fighting on Union side?" I said. "No not exactly, I was aboard a civil yacht when we encountered a battle ship of the Ima Clan under the command of a Dai named Win-Do." Har-Hi now raised both eyebrows."I know of him, he was always known for his exceptional hate towards all Union. I think his clan was destroyed as he was one of the first that entered Union space. How did you survive?" I tried to tell the event without many details, but they kept asking and so I had to tell the whole thing. Har-Hi put his hand on my shoulder. "Win-Do made one fatal mistake, he asked Eric to surrender." Then he started giggling." You are something else, Captain. I wonder what else happened before you even went to the Academy." Narth said. "Oh there is quite a lot…" Category:Fragments